A complaint was filed against Bhanupriya on Thursday by the girl’s mother Prabhavathi, accusing the actor of harassing her daughter who was employed as a domestic help at the actor’s house. She further alleged that Gopala Krishna, Bhanupriya’s brother, sexually harassed the 14-year-old and threatened the girl’s relatives when they visited the actor’s house. Prabhavathi stated that the girl was employed at Bhanupriya’s house through agents, and was promised payment of Rs 10,000 every month.
However, Bhanupriya has denied all the allegations. Speaking to TNM, the SI at the Samalkot Police Station said that the actor alleged that she was not aware of the girl’s age.
"We’ve passed on the case to another station in TN since it comes under their jurisdiction. But in the initial investigations, she (Bhanupriya) said that she didn’t know the girl’s age.”
He said that no case of sexual harassment has been filed yet, and the case has been now transferred to a police station in Tamil Nadu.
“No case accusing the actor of sexual harassment has been filed yet. Bhanupriya has said that she was unaware of the victim’s age and she is been falsely implicated in the case after the girl was found stealing valuables from the actor’s house. The case is no longer under our jurisdiction and has been transferred to a police station in Tamil Nadu as the alleged crime has happened in Chennai,” the officer said.
Prabhavathi filed the complaint on Thursday with the help of certain child welfare groups in Andhra Pradesh. In her complaint, she also stated that her daughter was not paid salary regularly.
“We sent her to work in Chennai. When we asked them to send her back, Bhanupriya's brother said that the other six househelps were on leave, and told us that they will send my daughter home once they return,” Prabhavathi earlier told the media.
Under the Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Amendment Act 2016, those accused of employing children below 14 years of age for any work can get up to two-year imprisonment and a fine of maximum Rs 50,000. The mother is also punishable for giving away the child for labour.